Martino Talks Crew, EPL On NBC

Former Crew midfielder Kyle Martino is preparing to help bring the English Premier League to the
United States as a broadcaster for NBC. Before the games kick off this weekend, Martino spoke with
The Dispatch to look ahead to the season and also at what the Crew has gone through to this point
in the year.

Here’s what Martino had to say.

Q: How closely do you keep tabs on the Crew?A: I always have one eye on the Crew. They’re always going to be the team that gave me my
first start and a place where I probably had some of my best soccer-playing years. I keep my eye on
the Crew. Obviously the new ownership is exciting. I think that the Hunts did a fantastic job and
brought the Columbus Crew a very long way. The league wouldn’t be what it is today without the Hunt
family, but there’s exciting rumblings about Anthony Precourt and what they’re thinking about doing
there. I think that’s a testament to the strength of the league and the product that they’ve
bought.

On the field lately, they got a good result last weekend (against New York) but struggled. Ever
since Gláuber went down earlier in the year they’ve had some defensive difficulties. Higuain and
Arrieta haven’t been able to get back to the hype that they showed last season, but this past
weekend it was good to see Higuain get back on the goal-scoring sheet. Now if they can get Arrieta
to start going and get him to feel the sort of confidence and have the success that he had last
year, I think the Crew can definitely make a late-season push.

Q: Is there something they could be doing differently that would turn things
around?A: It’s tough. I don’t think it’s a formation. I don’t think it’s a particular player.
Obviously every team has to deal with injuries. Losing Danny O’Rourke back there or (Eric) Gehrig
or whatever the system that Robert Warzycha has to deal with there, it’s something that every coach
around MLS deals with at some point in the season. More importantly, it’s just a confidence thing.
That result they got this past weekend, that’s the type of result that can turn things around as a
team. All of a sudden the belief is back in. You stop second-guessing; you stop waiting for the
game to go wrong. I definitely remember times in my career with the Crew where we went on rolls
where we just knew it wasn’t going to go our way. ‘When’s the goal against us coming? How many bars
are we going to hit?’ That attitude infects the morale of the team and I think that’s what the Crew
was going through for a month or so. Wins like this past weekend are definitely the type of wins
that can help right the ship.

Q: What excites you the most about this situation?A: For me, being a part of Premier League as the only American voice is very exciting because
it’s a league that I grew up following and a league that I’ve always been a huge fan of. When I was
little, I used to have to seek out ways to watch leagues around the world and it wasn’t very easy.
We didn’t have a domestic league, so all I really knew was the league in Italy and the league in
England when I was little and falling in love with the game. For it to come full circle is an
incredible honor and something that, at this point, there’s been a lot of buildup and excitement
but it’s kind of like preseason as a player: you just want to get out there and play that first
game. I can’t wait for this weekend.

Q: Now that there is a league in America, is the Premier League just as important for new
soccer fans here as it was for you?A: Yeah, definitely. There’s always been comparisons and everyone is so hesitant to compare
their league to the Premier League but the reality is the Premier League is the best league in the
world for many reasons, and that’s compared next to some incredible leagues – Major League Soccer
being one of them. Some of the best players in the world on one of the biggest stages in the world
is the Premier League every weekend. Even with our league taking off here domestically and the
great success that’s been there, it doesn’t take away from the Premier League just like the Premier
League doesn’t take away from Major League Soccer. I think for the first time, which is evident by
what NBC is planning out, in the last decade it’s been a push toward soccer in the country and not
necessarily drawing a line between what soccer is and what soccer is not (important). NBC treats
soccer as one family, and it’s so exciting to be able to now have two different leagues to continue
to grow that family within our network.

Q: What are you most looking forward to seeing in the Premier League this season?A: Four of the top six teams have new managers, and for the first time since I’ve been
following the Premier League Sir Alex Ferguson is no longer there. I can’t wait to see the
storylines that play out. The new boss in Manchester City, the new boss at Everton, the new boss in
Chelsea, there are all these shakeups at the very top of the league and since I’ve been following
it I can’t remember a time where there was this much. I think it’s going to lead to one of the most
competitive Premier League title races that we’ve seen since the First Division was first called
the Premiership back in 1992.

Q: Do you think having all the games accessible here make more Americans care about
soccer?A: Yeah, I think so, because the important thing about it is the increase in soccer IQ of our
fan base. When I grew up, you really couldn’t have these very in-depth conversations with other
soccer fans around the water cooler and I think that if you’re eavesdropping in offices or around
schoolyards or in restaurants, you’re hearing very interesting soccer conversations between
American sports fans. That’s so exciting to see happen and I think the Premier League is a way to
continue to grow that. More importantly than having that intelligent fan base is growing the fan
base and having the sports fan who is not a soccer fan yet and rolling out the red carpet and
giving them something to get hooked. Watch that first game or find that first player that gets them
hooked. I think the challenge in this country is to roll that red carpet out as long and as big as
possible so more people fall in love with the world’s No. 1 sport.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a broadcaster?A: No, I didn’t. I had a career-ending injury in 2008 and the game was taken away from me so
quickly and abruptly that I actually got away from the game and really didn’t want to have much to
do with it because I was so scared it would break my heart every single time I got in the stadium.
I quickly found in my first time calling a game that part of the love that I had for playing and
what made me so fanatical about the game as a player, I was experiencing as a broadcaster. More
importantly, I became a fan of the game again. As injury piled up I started to lose my love for the
game and didn’t really want to be around it as much. Grabbing the mic and going into the booth
reignited that love that I used to have for the game. It’s something I want to do for the next 30
years.

The first thing I went and did when I had my injury was I went and worked in finance on Wall
Street. That shows you how far I could have gotten from something that was the most important thing
in my life for such a long time.